Rauch & Lang Electric Car

In
1911, the Rauch & Lang electric coupe was billed as a ladies car, the latest
in luxury. Some models came decked out with crystal bud vases. The driver
steered with a tiller bar instead of a steering wheel.

U of S Supermileage Car - Tensor

Thirteen hundred miles per gallon? University of Saskatchewan engineering
students set a North American record for fuel efficiency with Tensor, their
1982 entry in the Society of Automotive Engineers Supermileage competition
in Marshall, Michigan. This was the third time the U of S took top honours
with more wins to follow.

Gofer EV

Saskatoon's PapaBravo Innovations prototype Gofer electric vehicle (EV)
rounds out the exhibit. Built in 2010 for the potash industry, the EV proved
so successful that it sparked a new business and by 2013 all Saskatchewan
potash companies were using PapaBravo Evs in their underground operations.

Wind Car

In the 1970s, using a Volkswagen chassis, windmill parts and wind scoops
made from oil drums, one clever Saskatchewan farm boy cobbled together a
vehicle powered by the wind. A stiff breeze propelled it about as fast as a
person could walk.

Straw Gas Car

Heads turned on an August day in 1918 as a car with a giant gas bag
suspended overhead made its way from the University of Saskatchewan to
downtown Saskatoon. Two professors were out for a test drive in a 1918
McLaughlin touring car powered by straw gas. The WDM has re-created the
professors’ experimental car for this exhibit.

Brooks Steamer

You’ve heard of steam-powered tractors. What about a steam car, or perhaps a
steam bicycle? In 1926, a Brooks Steamer rolled out of
the Stratford, Ontario factory. Equipped with a quick-starting flash boiler,
the Brooks was ready to go in about ten minutes.

Electrek

Did you know that Saskatchewan Power tested a Denver-built electric car in
the early 1980s? Sixteen lead-acid batteries provided the power. But in the
dead of winter when the driver had to choose between power for the motor or
power for the heater, testing came to a standstill.

Steam Bicycle

Nearly 60 years after the Brooks steam powered car,
Saskatoon’s Bob Grosse accepted a friend’s challenge to build a steam bike.
Bob’s bike was just one reflection of his love of steam. He used an old
bicycle and an engine he designed and built from scratch.